Sakura Matsuri (Cherry Blossom Festival)

Yesterday the annual Swedish Cherry Blossom Festival in Stockholm took place in Kungsträdgården. We got lucky this year, because the cherry trees were actually still in bloom. The weather was fantastic, sunny and warm, and the park was filled with loads of people.

On stage, they had a lolita fashion show, a cosplay show, dance performances, choires and more.

Järfälla Akido Club had invited people to train for free.

You could try a kimono on.

A company called KIKI was there, selling tenugui, beauitful hand printed Japanese hand towels made of cotton.

First Leaf Ikebana, an ichiyo ikebana school, had mini lessons, taught people how make flower arrangements the ikebana way. They have courses and workshops throughout the year.

Mangakai was there too. Thery’re a manga and anime association where the members meet up and draw manga, watch anime, play games and socialise together.

And then there were many other sellers there. Yuko Ono Sthlm was selling beautiful tea caddies and lovely Japanese tea, like gyokuru, yame sencha, fukamushi sencha and kaoribo hojicha. You could also find stalls selling clothes, food, snacks, cute items (Totoro!) and more.

Other stalls included igo (a game, pictured above), origami (paper folding), Blueberry (study Japanese in Japan), Japanspecialisten (arranged trips to Japan), Japanska Skolan and more. It was a great event, and we are already looking forward to next year!